Revolutionary
by Tragedy Tay
Summary: The brownhaired girl lifted her eyes off of her computer keyboard for the first time in the entire class, in the entire three weeks since he'd first sat next to her. Che grinned. Success. SummerChe friendship, SS implied.


Title: Revolutionary

Summary: The brown-haired girl lifted her eyes off of her computer keyboard for the first time in the entire class, in the entire three weeks since he'd first sat next to her. "What?" Che grinned. Success.

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: SS, Summer/Che friendship

oooooooooooooo0

"Fish can feel pain, you know."

The brown-haired girl lifted her eyes off of her computer keyboard for the first time in the entire class, in the entire three weeks since he'd first sat next to her. "What?"

Che grinned. Succes.

"So," he said with a sleepy grin, "you _can_ talk?"

She raised her eyebrows, frowned, and looked back at her notes. He could see all kinds of little blue lines, spell-check was probably her best friend.

"Wait," Che said, reaching out to touch her arm. Human contact was amazing. The touch of one animal to another, it could comfort, and it was mystical and healing and just the whole universe connected.

_Yeah_.

She shrugged him away. "I have to finish this," the girl said in a low whisper, staring at him, and her eyes were even darker than her hair, which she angrily swiped with her fingers, keeping it firmly tucked behind her ears. She stood up quickly, tugged on a jacket (despite the 70-degree weather), and stomped to the door, her hair flipping indignantly at him. She had too much rage, and toxins, and she didn't even know it, but he could help her.

_She could save the world_, he thought.

oooooooooooooooo

"I'm Che."

He rubbed a hand through his hair, curled under his hat, with that same stupid grin, and then stuck out his fingers at her.

She tilted her head a little as she took his hand to shake. "The fish guy, right?"

"Yeah! You remembered!"

She nodded. "You were memorable." He looked at her for a few seconds, she had good karma, he could tell. She was all full of energy and potential, she just needed to wake up a little and see the world.

He could help with that.

"I'm Summer," she said finally. "Summer Roberts."

"Want to go to the coffee place?" he asked eagerly, "I know somewhere, it's just...it's perfect."

She couldn't help but grin back. "Sure. I guess."

He nearly skipped after her.

oooooooooooooooo

She was happier in the coffee shop than he'd seen her in class, hunched over in her chair and typing furiously. Now Summer giggled, and talked about how she was from California, and had never been east, and she fished a little picture of her boyfriend back home out of her purse to show him.

"Who's that?" he asked, pointing to someone in the backround, with hair shining in the sun, her features blurred by light.

"Nobody," Summer almost barked, her eyes wide and suddenly fearful. She dropped the picture, tearing it a little in her haste to get it out of her sight. She took a few seconds to compose herself, then looked at him apologetically. "It's...no one. Nobody! Just...nothing at all."

"Okay," he said kindly, touching her again, and again she flinched, but he kept his hand on her until she calmed down a little.

Tom, his stepdad, said all Che's "new-agey, doped-up, hippie _shit_" was nothing. His mom had forgotten his dad long ago, she'd gone all straight-edge when she met Tom

Summer was proving it was something, which was nice every once in a while.

ooooooooooooooooo

They're friends after that, kind of.

She doesn't like letting him into her room, and when she finally does, it's sad and bare, stark contrast to her roommate's. Summer has all her school stuff in a stack on the floor, her laptop sat on a desk charging, and then she had a lot of DVDs stacked by her bed.

Her answering machine was blinking, and she absentmindedly pushed play while Che looked over the titles, shaking his head a little, he needed to give her a little education.

"Hey, Summer, so, you didn't call me last night, I guess you forgot, or whatever. Well, anyway, um, I wanna hear about all the...all your classes, and stuff, I know you're busy, but if you're ever not...no, shut up, Leon...no! Okay, um, I have to do something, but...call me. I miss you."

Summer erased the message, a weird look on her face.

"Was that Seth?" Che asked, to break the silence, but Summer only nodded back. She still had that disconcerting look, it was indescribable, and unpleasent, and the energy of the room was becoming hostile.

"You okay?" he asked, squinting at her, and thinking maybe he should get her some green tea. Green tea cleansed you.

"No. Yes. Um." Summer stuttered a response out, blinked twice, and then it was like all the worry faded from her eyes, but something was there still, but only just. Just a little hint.

It was always there, he noticed.

"Are you sure?" he pressed, he didn't want her to go off on a binge of drugging or drinking or shooting from the clocktower.

"So, fish can feel pain?" she asked quickly, and he nodded.

"I can get you some literature."

"Okay," she replied. "You do that."

Che grinned, and slung his arm around her shoulder.

She didn't flinch.

oooooooooooooo

end.


End file.
